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Gnosall Parish News

Produced by publishers of The Popular Village Monthly


Jambusters WI.png (Image)I was worried about this month's meeting. I was worried that it would be filled with unbearably sad stories, too hard to listen to. We were joined by Rachel and Mandy from The Samaritans in Stafford and I was afraid that sharing their experiences of telephone calls made during times of crisis and desperation would form too harsh a reminder of all the pain and suffering that surrounds us. But this wasn't the case.

Mandy and Rachel gave us a history of the Samaritans, when it was founded (1953), by whom (Chad Varah) and for what purpose. It was the reasons as to why people called them however, that really struck another chord and made me think differently about the organisation as a whole. Yes, people call when they are at their darkest and lowest points but they are also encouraged to call before they reach that point, when they first feel lonely or despondent, to talk to a non‐judgemental person and, hopefully, find a way to manage those feelings. They may work this out on their own or with the help of an organisation that the Samaritans' listener can signpost them towards.

One thing the Samaritan cannot do is give advice. I wondered about this. When was the last time that I just listened to somebody without interjecting my own personal life experience or thoughts on what they should do? When was the last time that you did that for someone?

Of course, each Samaritan is highly trained and although there are 22,000 volunteers in the UK currently, sometimes a caller can hear a recorded message telling them to 'please call back later'. A heartbreaking thought.

To learn more about the Samaritans and how to support their work visit www.samaritans.org

Need support? Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.

Join us next month for our AGM and a beetle‐drive, which is always a firm favourite and can get very competitive, let me tell you.

Gnosall Jambusters meet at the Memorial Hall at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of each month or we can be contacted via:

Email: gnosalljambusters@hotmail.co.uk

Facebook: Gnosall Jambusters WI

X:@gnosall_WI

Daisy Heveron

LOCAL TRADE DIRECTORY